Increasing demand for enhanced operational performance in a variety of consumer, industrial, and military products has paved the way for development of the next generation of high performance materials. Recent research efforts in this regard have focused on nanomaterials due to their unique properties that are not usually observed in equivalent macroscale materials.
Carbon nanomaterials, particularly carbon nanotubes, have been the subject of especially intense study, the latter due to their exceptionally high mechanical strength and good electrical and thermal conductivity values. Other carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, fullerenes, and diamond-like carbon can display some properties that are similar to carbon nanotubes, but their mechanical strength can be poorer. The combined strength and flexibility of carbon nanomaterials can be of great value for multiple applications.
Nanoparticles other than carbon nanomaterials have also been the focus of intense research interest in recent years. As used herein, the term “nanoparticle” will refer to a material that has a size of about 100 nm or less in a least one dimension. When using the term “nanoparticle” herein, it is to be understood that this term does not refer to a carbon nanomaterial. Nanoparticles can come in a wide range of sizes and types (i.e., compositions), and they can be organic or inorganic in nature. Illustrative types of nanoparticles can include, for example, quantum dots (i.e., semiconductor nanoparticles), metal nanoparticles, metal oxide nanoparticles, non-metal nanoparticles, polymer nanoparticles, and the like. Further, different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation can be absorbed by the nanoparticles simply by varying their size and/or type.
Although carbon nanomaterials and nanoparticles have beneficial properties that are ripe for utilization, combining these substances into a single composition that effectively takes advantage of both components has been technically challenging. The present invention satisfies the foregoing need and provides related advantages as well.